It was a year and a half ago, on 29 May 2015, that the AdC first formally accused the banks of concerting their activities, by exchanging sensitive commercial information on the supply of credit products in retail banking, particularly consumer credit, business credit and mortgages.

On 30 March this year the investigation was suspended on the order of the Competition Tribunal, in response to eight appeal submissions by various banks. The tribunal ordered that the case be suspended until verdicts had been returned in respect of all eight appeals.

The case went up to the Lisbon appeal court, which in October decided that these appeals should not, after all, result in the suspension of the investigation.

“The AdC has now seen confirmed its understanding that ... the Law on Competition expressly foresees that the investigation of a certain infraction is not undermined by the litigation that might exist during the proceeding," the Authority said in a note posted on its website. Otherwise, it stressed, this would result in the "paralysation of investigations underway".